Man charged with mailing drugs to wife in Lehigh County Jail

Two weeks after Valentine's Day, a man mailed his wife a card containing drugs while she was an inmate at the Lehigh County Jail, according to court records.

Raul F. Gerena Jr., 36, of Allentown, later admitted sending Suboxone, a painkiller used to treat heroin addiction, court records say. His wife was in jail for violating terms of her parole on a drug conviction.

Gerena, of the 600 block of Lehigh Street, was charged with possession of contraband and delivery of a controlled substance. He was arraigned Monday by District Judge Michael Pochron and sent to the county jail under $25,000 bail.

According to a criminal complaint:

A guard was checking incoming mail Feb. 27 when two strips of suspected Suboxone fell out of a card addressed to inmate Nicole Gerena. The guard notified a supervisor, who found three more Suboxone strips in the card.

A Lehigh County drug task force investigator collected the evidence and interviewed Raul Gerena on March 26 and he admitted sending the card. He also said he had a prescription.